Ballots to remain uncounted in MI and Stein blocked in Philly. Guest: Election integrity, law expert Paul Lehto says this proves 'only option is to get it right on Election Night'. Also: Trump taps climate denier, fossil-fuel tool for EPA...

I think we should give Larisa Alexandrovna a Big BRAD BLOG Award for this epic piece of blogging, but I can't decide what we should call the award ... and I'm also looking for a suitable inscription. So please help me out here. All suggestions welcome, as usual.

(NOTE to LITTLE GREEN FOOTBALL readers and the other Rightie blogsites who parrot that one with misleading headlines like "Bradblog: Don't Donate to Bush States". You may (or may not) wish to know that the following BRAD BLOG Guest Blog item by Joseph Cannon has been entirely misquoted to you out of context by your blogmasters.

Like your "President", your blogmasters seem only interested in misleading you and ensuring that you stay in the dark by giving you only the selected-out-of-context information which meets their own political agenda.

We invite you to read Mr. Cannon's entire blog item before you add your two cents in the comments section here whatever they may be. Unlike LGF and the bulk of the other rightie blogs that have misquoted this article in hopes of avoiding accountability where it belongs for this national disaster, our comments section is open and requires no pre-registration, which LGF no longer seems to allow anyway.

As to LGF's misleading update to their misleading item describing my comment here as "an uttlerly craven excuse," I promise to scratch my head and ponder for the rest of the evening what "excuse" it is they are referring to. Even LGF's reply to my comment is wholly bereft of anything that represents actual information, honesty or reality. LGF and other rightwing blogsite readers, along with all Americans, deserve much better. All opinions here are welcome. Even those with which we don't agree. BF)

My original reaction to the Katrina catastrophe was going to be: "NOT ONE DIME."

For an hour or so, I contemplated the idea of turning it into a crusade: No-one in the blue states (where the money is) should give one dime of aid to the victims of this hurricane, which devastated Bush-friendly regions.

"I came here bitter and angry, but this is a place where the anger turns to hope. And you know why it turns to hope? Because of Camp Casey, we remembered something we forgot. We own this country. This is our country."
-- Cindy Sheehan, in closing remarks to supporters and volunteers on the final night at Camp Casey II
Crawford, TX, Aug. 30th, 2005

As The BRAD BLOG has been reporting for months, the recount of the 2004 Ohio Presidential Election was gamed by Ohio elections officials and voting machine company employees who violated state laws requiring a random recount of precincts in order to determine if a hand recount of entire counties would be necessary.

Reports that county officials and voting machine companies colluded to assure the hand recount would match with the initial machine recount have been reported for months and yesterday the first indictments were handed down.

Two Cuyahoga County elections officials were indicted Tuesday on charges of not handling ballots correctly during the recount of the 2004 presidential election.

Kathleen Dreamer, manager of the board's ballot department, and the assistant manager, Rosie Grier, were each charged with six counts of failing to follow Ohio laws that spell out how ballots are selected and reviewed during a recount.

The most serious charges carry a maximum of 18 months in prison.

Erie County Prosecutor Kevin J. Baxter conducted the investigation at the behest of Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Bill Mason, who recused himself from the case because his office represents the elections board.

The charges stem from a complaint first raised last December by Toledo lawyer Richard Kerger, who watched over the recount on behalf of two third-party candidates.

Kerger charged that elections officials failed to randomly select precincts that were supposed to be counted by hand and compared against ballots tabulated by a machine; conduct test-runs before witnesses; and investigate discrepancies between vote totals.

Baxter would not offer details of his investigation but said he examined allegations that officials took "measures in order to all but assure that there would not be a countywide hand count."

Amongst the reports on this matter that The BRAD BLOG has carried since last November, is the case of Hocking County election board worker Sherole Eaton, who filed a sworn affidavit that an employee from voting machine company, Triad had offered a "cheat sheet" to her and other county officials on how the recount might be carried off to assure the entire county would not need to be recounted by hand. He also allegedly removed and restored a harddrive from the county's central tabulating machine prior to the recount, according to Eaton, also in violation of Ohio state law. Eaton is currently challenging her firing as improprer.

Ohio law calls for a random selection of 3% of a county's precincts to be carried out by hand. If that random recount doesn't match the initially reported count, a full recount of the county would then be necessary. Eaton was subsequently fired from the board after making her claim public (our BRAD SHOW interview with Eaton is here [mp3]).

As well, RAW STORY had reported last January that several recount witnesses had testified to stickers having been placed over Kerry/Edwards votes on ballots before they were fed into vote tabulators during the recount in that county. (Our BRAD SHOW interview with two of those witnesses, Stephen Spraley and Eric Gifford, is here [mp3]).

New Orleans ex-mayor, Sydney Barethemly, pleads with President Bush to allocate the resources to save New Orleans and make it a safe place once again. He says that the president must focus and make saving the city and the 80,000 trapped people a priority. He believes that if we do this on the President's schedule then it may be too late.

SOLEDAT: Why was there no plan in place? New Orleans has been in the path of Hurricanes forever so why no plan.

BARETHEMLY: ...We really need the President of the United States to make this a priority. We have to stop the breeches in the levy. We have to or we're going to lose New Orleans and lose thousands of people there. I believe that there are about 80,000 people trapped in the city right now and if we don't solve this problem, we will lose those people.

SOLEDAT: But the Army Corp. of Engineers, they're working on it. We spoke to them this morning. It seems that they are doing everything that they can do. What more should they be doing? What else can the President do?

BARETHEMLY:He can send the Army to help and resolve this. 3000 new troops are coming in. That's not enough. We did everything possible to help the people who were suffering from the tsunami. We have to make this a priority. We have to send the Army to stop this or we will lose New Orleans and we will lose 80,000 people, I believe.

SOLEDAT: [New Orleans] ...It sounds like a lot of elected officials are frustrated at and a lot of lack of coordination. There are no cell phones. It, also, seems like on that front there was no plan either. Who is in charge?

BARETHEMLY: Soledat, I think it's just overwhelming. I have to believe that the official are doing now all that they can do. They are using as many resources as they have. That's not enough. The President of the United States is the only person who has the resources to coordinate to bring in the troops to make this city a safe place, to solve the breeches in the levy. They're losing hope. Everything they're doing, the problem is not getting better; it's getting worse.

SOLEDAT: The President would say, listen, "We declared a disaster area before the storm even hit. I'm coming on Friday to take a look at the devastation in the region. What else do you want?"

BARETHEMLY:Friday may be too late, Soledat, we don't have that time to wait. We need him now. To send the troops now. If we can spend the monies we are spending to help the people in Iraq then we can do the same thing for New Orleans. This is a great country, we have tremendous resources. We have to make this a resolve because if New Orleans goes, it's going to have a devastation impact, not just on the people that live there, but on the rest of this nation.

SOLEDAT: Can we take a few minutes and talk about the Superdome. We've got about 20,000 angry, hot, tired, underfed people in disgusting conditions, I think it's fair to say. What should be done with them? The governor says we need to get them out now but the plan seems to be busses. I don't know how the busses will get out of the city. What do you do with them?

BARETHEMLY: Again, Soledat, that you have to send the resources in. The governor wants to do the right thing. She wants to evacuate. The mayor wants to evacuate. They do not have the resources. I don't know how you say that to the federal government: "This is a national disaster. We must save those people and save that city. That means sending the military in right now! We can't wait. We got to send the military in now who have the resources to save this city and save those people down there who are trapped!"

In another RAW STORY exclusive, our good friend Larisa Alexandrovna has some very interesting words from retired U. S. Army Colonel Michael Pheneger, whose credentials seem quite impressive:

Colonel Pheneger is a highly decorated thirty year veteran who has served in various high level military posts throughout his career, including: Commander, U. S. Army Intelligence School, Director of Intelligence, U. S. Special Operations Command; Deputy Director of Intelligence, and has worked with the USSOCOM and USCENTCOM teams providing high level intelligence support.

More importantly, he makes a ton of sense, especially when he says things like:

the problem is the underlying conduct - not the photos.

and

the only way to assign accountability is to conduct a thorough investigation of every aspect of these deplorable episodes.

I've been saying the same sorts of things for how long now? When is Larisa going to interview me??

I'm kidding of course but I can't help it; this is so repulsive, and it has been so blatant, and it has been going on for so long, if I didn't bring some humor to the discussion I could never force myself to write about it at all. No, it isn't funny. It's atrocious and it's outrageous and it's very serious ... and seriously, it's encouraging to see someone with the credentials and experience of Colonel Pheneger, telling it like it is!

So a big BRAD BLOG thank-you to retired U.S. Army Colonel Michael Pheneger and another big thank-you to the very lovely and extremely talented Larisa Alexandrovna.

You can read all of Larisa's interview with Colonel Michael Pheneger here.

We'll be wrapping up tonight, LIVE from Camp Casey II as the big tent comes down.

Most of the folks have now moved on from Crawford and the tent is filled with many of the volunteers, bloggers, vets and families who will be here until tomorrow's final move out of town.

We'll be back on the air (Listening links at www.BradShow.com) tonight at 9pm ET (8pm CT, 7pm MT, 6pm PT), for a final wrap-up during the "talent show" of the volunteers and those other die-hards who are still here at Camp Casey II.

Join us, as we broadcast LIVE from Crawford, TX for what (we hope) will be the last time...If the Radio, Democracy and Internet Gods permit us.

Please consider this an Open Thread for tonight's show, and spread the word where ya can.

{UPDATE from Winter Patriot: DONATIONS are still badly needed. If you can help in this regard, we'd certainly appreciate it. You can Donate via Credit Card or PayPal or you can Donate via Snail Mail and if those options don't appeal to you then you can always do some gift shopping at The BRAD STORE. Thanks to you and your financial support Brad is still on the air. Gasp! Sigh! And thanks again!!}

The BRAD SHOW returns, LIVE and RAW and coming to you direct from Crawford, Texas. As usual, the show is scheduled to start at High Noon Central time, 1pm Eastern, 11am Mountain, 10am Pacific. That's 6pm in London, and 7pm in Paris and Prague [we think!] ... So please join us this morning, afternoon or evening, as the case may be.

THIS IS SCHEDULED TO BE THE FINAL DAY of BRADcasting from Crawford, Texas. As Brad has written:

Barring any schedule changes down here (and things do change quickly in Crawford) today will be our final day of our special daily live coverage of events on the ground in Crawford Texas.

We'll be wrapping things up, putting things into perspective, reporting on the extraordinary coming together between the pro-Sheehan and pro-Bush camps in a late-night candle light vigil last night at Camp Casey I, speaking with several Bush supporters and hopefully chatting with Cindy Sheehan before the stakes of Camp Casey in Crawford get pulled up and the "Peace Train" hits the road on its way to Washington D.C.

It's been our honor and privilege to bring you these exclusive broadcasts from here. Today will be our 9th day in a row, and unless there is a schedule change, our final hour will be our 50th. Unfortunately, we are still the only broadcast "organization" to feature such live daily coverage of these historic events.

Once again we remind you that The BRAD SHOW is still supported primarily by listener donations, and we need more listeners and more contributors! So please pick up the phone, or send some e-mail, and tell all your friends about The BRAD SHOW. You (and they) will be glad you did.

Psst! As the "front man" for The Whispering Campaign, I get all kinds of stuff via e-mail, including a couple of news summaries compiled by people and/or organizations who have nothing to do with Brad or The BRAD BLOG ... they found The Whispering Campaign as soon as we went public and they offered to send us things and we said "sure" and it comes to me ... I read some of this stuff and scan the rest, usually, if I have time, but I never quite know what to do with it. My first impulse it to share it... but the quantity poses a bit of a problem, because I can hardly even find time to read it, let alone blog about it. I mean there's just all this stuff happening every day. Or every week. As the case may be.

I call it "the blizzard". You can only examine so many snowflakes before you freeze to death standing up. [Apologies to any matsodons in the audience; I agree it was a tasteless joke.] So mostly I just scan this stuff and say "thanks" under my breath, and keep going ... you know how it is: Life in the fast lane, Surely make you lose your mind, mm, Are you with me so far?

... and ... I've been thinking it might be good to find some snippet of one of these newsletters and post it, to see what BRAD BLOG readers think of it ... but what to post? and when? and how to "package" it? and so on ... a lot of questions remained unanswered ... until I saw that somebody with no known connection to The BRAD SHOW or The BRAD BLOG ... someone who, to my knowledge, had never even heard of The BRAD SHOW or The BRAD BLOG... had sent me a news compilation that mentions ... very prominently ... are you way ahead of me here??

The BRAD SHOW returns, LIVE and RAW and coming to you direct from Crawford, Texas. As usual, the show is scheduled to start at High Noon Central time, 1pm Eastern, 11am Mountain, 10am Pacific. That's 6pm in London, and 7pm in Paris and Prague [we think!] ... So please join us this morning, afternoon or evening, as the case may be.

On today's show, Brad hopes to interview several Bush supporters ... and that should be fun!

Once again we remind you that The BRAD SHOW is still supported primarily by listener donations, and we need more listeners and more contributors! So please pick up the phone, or send some e-mail, and tell all your friends about The BRAD SHOW. You (and they) will be glad you did.

U.S. Army Specialist Tomas Young has some questions for George W. Bush. He's never met with the Commander-in-Chief who sent him into Sadr City, Iraq in a canvass covered truck during a massive uprising in that city on April 4, 2004. The same city on the same day that Cindy Sheehan's son Casey was killed.

Tomas was lucky. He was only paralyzed from the chest down. Amongst other things he'd like to ask of Bush, is why he won't allow funding for stem cell research which might eventually restore the spine that he lost in Bush's War. A spine, as Tomas explained to us yesterday on The BRAD SHOW, which apparently Bush has never had.

Tomas and his new wife Bree (also pictured), came to Crawford from Kansas City on their honeymoon to "stand" in support of Cindy Sheehan.

We now have our interview with Tomas up in the BRAD SHOW "Operation Noble Cause" Archives shortly, with much more news, sound and the stories of the people of Camp Casey on today's LIVE BRAD SHOW from Camp Casey beginning at HIGH NOON in Crawford (1p ET, 12p CT, 11a MT, 10a). We are hoping to feature several Bush supporters on today's show!

We have now broadcast 42 hours of LIVE coverage from on the ground in Crawford, Texas in the last seven days, simulcast over at least 7 different radio networks at various times, including Air America for several hours on Saturday. All hosted by your friendly citizen blogger, Brad Friedman. We are the only broadcast "organization" to feature such live daily coverage!

Your DONATIONS continue to be greatly needed and very much appreciated in order to help make all of this possible!

URGENT REMINDER:The BRAD SHOW is still supported primarily by listener donations ... and we still need more listeners and more contributors! So please pick up the phone, or send some e-mail, and tell a few friends about The BRAD SHOW. You (and they) will be glad you did.

We've got a lot of photos of interviews and such, but are having problems pulling them off our camera and getting them onto the net (just one of the many continuous uphill battles out here, like crashed computers, overheated equipment and hosts, etc...). These photos, however, were sent to me, and I was actually able to receive them (go figure!) so here's a few from yesterday...

Much more today as we beginning at HIGH NOON in Crawford, as usual. We'll be back at Camp Casey today and hope to be carrying LIVE all of the events and rallies on the stage in the big tent. Rumor has it we'll hear from Rev. Al Sharpton, Randi Rhodes and perhaps Martin Sheen (the real President of the United States...Perhaps he'll be able to tell us what the "noble cause" is.)

In the past six days, we've broadcast over 35 hours of LIVE coverage on the ground in Crawford, Texas over at least 7 different radio networks!

We'll be here till it's all over...and thank you very much for the SUPPORT where you can afford to lend it!